2022 ServeOhio Awards Recipients
Volunteerism and service improves lives in Ohio every minute of every day. The impact of everyday citizens who reach beyond themselves to help their neighbors and communities – transforming themselves and others – shapes who we are as a state. We give, we learn, we serve, we grow.
The ServeOhio Awards, made possible through support from the American Electric Power Foundation, recognize outstanding people, groups, and initiatives in each region of Ohio who make great contributions to their communities through service and volunteerism. A cash award of $1,000 is issued to support the organization which benefited from the winner’s service. The awards will be presented in virtual ceremony during National Volunteer Week, April 17-23, 2022.
Northwest Ohio
Vantage Career Center, Van Wert County
The students at the Vantage Career Center have fully embraced their local United Way’s annual Day of Caring event where they collect, sort and deliver food items for local food pantries. In 2021, the students collected over 12,000 food items from local businesses and sorted more than 40,000 food items. Despite challenges from COVID-19, the Vantage students invested more than 600 hours into the event, collecting the highest total number of items to date.
Northeast Ohio
Margo Hudson, Cleveland
After completing an adult education program with Seeds of Literacy and receiving her GED, Margo Hudson reflected on her own struggles and commitment to never giving up. She became a volunteer at Seeds of Literacy- changing her narrative from the recipient of help to the giver of help - where she tutored students twice a week. Since she started volunteering 10 years ago, Margo has accumulated thousands of volunteer hours and become an ambassador for adult education and literacy. She shares her story more than 20 times each year as a speaker and trainer. Outside of Seeds of Literacy, Margo also volunteers at least 10 hours a week at a variety of other organizations.
Central Ohio
Andrea Nadolny, Worthington
After losing someone to suicide at 14, Andrea Nadolny decided to create the resources that would have helped her when she was grieving. She created a series of infographics that were distributed in three states by 11 partner organizations. Her infographics were featured as a model student project by an international psychiatry conference. Locally, Andrea has designed and installed two murals in Worthington, one centered on the message “You are Not Alone” and the other embracing community diversity by incorporating handprints from more than 300 community members. In addition to her suicide awareness work, Andrea volunteers with a wide range of organizations in central Ohio.
Southwest Ohio
David Haldeman, Cincinnati
David Haldeman’s work with the Mt. Washington Cemetery has restored the overgrown and under resourced cemetery into an environmental and historical sanctuary for future generations. David created software to track the cemetery’s 144 years of burial records, cataloging the history of those buried there. David also serves as the cemetery’s sexton, overseeing everything related to the burials in the cemetery. He has worked on numerous restoration projects within the cemetery and does a majority of the cemetery’s upkeep. In 2018, David donated his childhood home and the acres it stands on to become a nature preserve where he continues to support its upkeep and operations.
Southeast Ohio
Amy Fugikawa, Athens
Amy Fugikawa spends 20 to 30 hours each week caring for community garden spaces at the Community Food Initiative (CFI) Southside Community Garden. She assists gardeners who are unable to maintain their own garden plots, as well as maintaining the plot used for CFI’s food distribution program. Amy beautifies the garden’s communal spaces, maintains the shed and compost system, and works to ensure the garden is accessible for all in the community. She also serves as a teacher and support system for both new and returning gardeners. Amy helped recruit 14 new gardeners to the space which led to the garden being at full capacity for the first time ever.
